The next time Howard County needs emergency water services, other jurisdictions will be able to immediately deploy assistance.

County Executive Kenneth Ulman announced the county’s participation in the Maryland Water/Wastewater Agency Response Networks at a Dec. 8 news conference.

Flanked by emergency utility vehicles, Ulman and leaders from Harford, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties signed a memorandum of understanding for “MD WARN,” which allows participating governments and water utilities to provide and
receive immediate emergency aid and assistance.

Maryland is the 44th state to create such a network, a movement that began in the wake of hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Stephen Gerwin, chief of the county’s Bureau of Utilities, said the new system will allow counties and water utilities to expedite service.

“Before, we would have had to go to the department director, the county executive — very cumbersome. This allows us to (deploy) small resources very quickly,” he said.

While the program will be critical in a catastrophe, Ulman said it would also be useful for emergencies such as water main breaks.

“Many of them are just everyday kind of occurrences. Some rupture here, it’s not a major emergency, but we may be stressed,” Ulman said. “It may be a weather event. We can just make a call and say, ‘Hey guys, do you have two trucks you can send out?’”

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